A complete glass vial, grape pips, two-thousand-year-old eggshells – and complete ceramic lamps still with soot in them – all these were uncovered in a new excavation in the drainage channel running under Second Temple period Jerusalem’s main street. The excavation, managed by the Israel Antiquities Authority with funding from the City of David, reveals Jerusalem’s changing urban pulse in the last decades before the Temple’s destruction in 70 CE.
In the framework of this excavation, the channel that was Jerusalem’s main subterranean artery is being exposed. This channel passed under, amongst other facilities, the colorful markets of Jerusalem at the foot of the Temple Mount, and along the entire length of the City of David.
“Small finds tell us a big story, from Jerusalem’s heyday of prosperity and splendor when its streets bustled with life, until the city’s ebbing moments during the rebellion against the Romans, and its total abandonment following the Temple and city’s destruction.” explains Dr. Ayala Zilberstein, Excavation Director on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority.
In the upper layers of the alluvial soil the excavators discovered remains from the days of the city’s destruction, including complete pottery lamps that are dated to the end of the Second Temple period. The soot preserved on their rims remains as a sign of the fire that once burned inside them. Some years ago, several meters south of the place where the oil lamps were uncovered, a complete Roman sword still inside its leather scabbard was discovered, in an excavation led by Eli Shukron. The possibility is now being examined that, like the sword, the oil lamps were also held in the hands of the rebels who found a hiding place in this channel.
As the diggers dug ever deeper, they were further exposed to a multitude of finds that testify to Jerusalem’s splendor and wealth during the Second Temple period; the years during which the city hummed with never-ending activity. Already in the careful manual excavation executed by a skilled team, led by Nissim Mizrahi, complete vessels were found, including vials of perfume and expensive oils, mostly ceramic vials; and next to them, a delicate glass vial that was miraculously preserved almost without any damage.
The initial examination of the pottery and glass vessel assemblages, conducted by Dr. Yael Gorin-Rosen and Dr. Shulamit Terem, indicated an exceptionally rich and diverse concentration of vessel types, some quite rare. “Through this large variety of pots and dishes that accumulated in the drainage channel we encounter nearly the complete tableware set of Jerusalem’s residents. In contrast to the limited set of vessels generally found when excavating a single household kitchen, the channel assemblage is drawn from many houses, and from different streets in town, thus presenting us with examples of almost all wares the city’s merchants had to offer,” explains Dr. Zilberstein